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But the huge increase in judicial jetting around the globe - which doubled in cost from £22,605.92 in 2015.16 to £43,354,91 in 2016/17 – flouts previous attempts by former top judge Brian Gill to “take control” of judges demanding to go on foreign trips to luxurious destinations, with hotels & golf clubs & ‘hospitality’ added to the mix.

And, chief among the big time spenders of public cash on air miles is the Lord President himself - Lord Carloway - who already earns a public salary of £222,862 a year.

Carloway – real name Colin Sutherland - who also goes by the title of Lord Justice General - took a taxpayer funded £4,189.96 jet flight to Washington DC on what the Judicial Office claim is a “UK/USA Legal Exchange” held in Philadelphia and Washington.

Also added to the grand list of judicial jet setting across the globe by Scotland's judiciary is a double overseas junket taken by Lord Matthews and Sheriff Norman McFadyen – who were travelling to the ISRCL - Halifax, Nova Scotia legal seminar in Canada.

Lord Matthews – a Court of Session Senator claimed £4017 costs for the trip, compared with Sheriff McFadyen’s £1842 bill to the public purse.

An investigation of this trip revealed Lord Matthews travelled in a separate business class seat compared with the Sheriff who was forced to fly premium economy class.

And a report in the Sunday Mail on June 2 2013 revealed Scottish judges spent over £83,000 on overseas travel junkets in three years - while top judge Lord Gill refused calls to appear before the Scottish Parliament to answer questions on the judiciary’s secretive financial interests & links to big business, banks & the professions.

“When guidelines state that one judicial member should be sufficient for each event, it’s questionable why so many have been travelling together.

“This is taxpayers’ money and shouldn’t be splashed out on needless flights.”

The judge and sheriff were attending the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law seminar between July 24 and 28 last year.

In 2014, the then Lord President, Lord Gill, issued guidance on overseas travel in which he stated “it should only be necessary for one judicial office holder to attend a conference overseas”.

Lord Gill said it would only “be in exceptional cases that I am likely to consider it necessary for more than one person to attend”. He added: “In all cases where funding is being sought, I will require a business case to be produced.

“I will need a clear justification for any overseas travel.”

Figures for judicial travel for the 12 months to March 31 showed a total of 38 trips were made overseas.

The biggest single claim was for a £6188 trip to Australia by Lady Dorrian to attend the Commonwealth Law conference in Melbourne.

The least expensive was when Lord Tyre managed an Academy of European Law trip to Frankfurt at a cost of just £84. The High Court judge did claim a further £57 in expenses for the trip last April.

After several spats between members of the judiciary who were keen to take overseas junkets to luxurious destinations & enjoy tours, hospitality & golf instead of attending law conferences on taxpayers cash, Lord Gill attempted to curtail demands of greedy judges on the public purse.

Guidance issued by Lord Gill in 2014 stated:

I have been reviewing the arrangements to control expenditure to meet attendance at conferences by the judiciary, especially where the conference is taking place outwith the United Kingdom. I have also been considering the arrangements for the authorisation of all other overseas travel to be paid from public funds. With immediate effect the following arrangements are to apply to future requests.

Requests for funding for attendance at conferences and for all other overseas travel should be sought only from the Judicial Office . No request for support to meet attendance at conferences, or other overseas travel should be made to any other part of the Scottish Court Service.

In all cases where funding is being sought I require a business case to be produced by the judicial office holder or the judicial representative body that is seeking funding. The business case does not need to be long, but it must:

(i) identify the nature of the conference;

(ii) the number of judicial office holders it is suggested should attend;

(iii) why that number is necessary if it is more than one;

(iv) the benefit either to those attending or to the judiciary more widely from attendance at the conference;

(v) the likely costs of attendance ; and

(vi) the likely impact on the efficient administration of business.

The business case should be sent to the Executive Director of the Judicial Office for Scotland, Stephen Humphreys. He will assess whether funds are available to meet the costs of attendance and if so pass the business case to me.

I will then consider all requests and respond directly to the judicial office holder. I will need a clear justification for any overseas travel. As a general rule it should only be necessary for one judicial office holder to attend a conference overseas. It will only be in exceptional cases that I am likely to consider it necessary for more than one person to attend.

Where support is provided to attend a conference a report is to be prepared and sent to the Executive Director within one month of the end of the conference. The report will be placed on the Judicial Hub and the Judicial website. It is important that as many of the judiciary as possible are able to benefit from the investment of public money in attending the conference.

24 comments:

Anonymous
said...

The Cherbi attention to detail nails it every time and Carloway must be seething with anger to have to face your blog and such coverage!Well done to you and to papers who stand up to judicial excesses!!

Costs are one thing, but what worries me is that with a longstanding and admitted record of outrageous delays in the Court of Session - which if memory serves me correctly Lord Gill stated endangered the Public's very right of access to justice - and yet we still have judges being allowed to spend precious time abroad when they should be here doing their job.

There was a discussion about your blog and coverage on travel.Gill felt publication of the figures would put an end to your features.Obviously not and congrats for not being put off writing about Carloway's mile high club.

Oh and one more thing Peter.A number of solicitors and legal hangers-on have been put on to your twitter and blog to bring down your excellent features on real life in the justice system.Something to do with concerns about your petition advancing towards advocates and solicitors interests.I am sure you are already aware of this as those who support lawyers and vast expenditure of public cash on the justice system stand out from the rest of society.You are obviously upsetting people who have a keen interest in furthering their own careers on the back of gains from their position and friends in the legal profession.I wondered myself as the tone of those having a go at you are very pro-legal,you know the usual suspects who dislike anyone writing about the justice system who does not make money out of it and thus is held to silence by their own industry.I encounter many such people during my work at Scottish Courts.Keep up the good work MrC.What a great public service you have given us all.

in answer to the comment about lawyers and and their pals having a go at Peter and this blog I wouldn't pay too much attention to supporters of the legal profession all you need to do is look at who they are and you soon find out they are lawyers or have a relation in the legal mafia or are in some way connected back to the money fleecing empire otherwise known as the courts!BUT the good thing is when they show themselves we all get an education on who they are what they are up to and where their loyalties lie!Good to keep tabs on those who dont want it published about Crown Office tossers spending half a million on media campaigns and paying their own mortgages off!

Yes I read an earlier article of yours about the judiciary deciding to publish the overseas travel after your investigations.

Well done Peter!You and the few brave journalists who tackle the judiciary head on make the difference!

I cannot imagine how difficult they must make your lives and all the dirty tricks and life threatening events they will derive to thwart your publications however you certainly earn a place in my heart!

When someone tells you something is not news,trust me it is news.I had a look at those comments the QC who went off his face when you mentioned mortgage figures worked for the Crown Office for a long time and one of the other guys is definitely a lawyer because I looked him up.Nice to see you rattling cages in need of rattling.If you want another fact of interest the QC was paid over £260,000 taxpayer backed legal aid last year in between tweets!I looked that one up too!

On the subject of your twitter I understand a solicitor who followed you received a call from the LSS 20 minutes later instructing he immediately un-follow you.So much for democracy in the profession but at least we have now established mentioning your name or a willingness to engage with you draws a better response time than an ambulance.As you are probably aware of the solicitor's identity I wont say any more except keep up the good work Peter.Your blog and recent graphics beat the Journal Online any day!

Ha.I for one am sure you helped more than one person along the way.Not that you will ever receive any thanks or recognition for doing so.Much like a hard working solicitor.You did some good work.TTFN Pete.

Top judge takes control of funding for overseas trips after 'junkets' outcry

9th August 2014 / Tom Gordon, Scottish Political Editor

SCOTLAND'S top judge has ordered an immediate clampdown on judges, sheriffs and justices of the peace attending overseas conferences after a Sunday Herald story about JPs and a controversial £3000 "junket" to Africa.

Lord Gill, the Lord President and head of the country's judiciary, will exercise a personal veto over any publicly funded conference without a clear justification.

In future, all overseas trips funded by the Judicial Office for Scotland must be supported by a business case, and those attending must write a report on the event within a month for publication in an online legal library.

Gill's intervention comes just three weeks after the Sunday Herald revealed a rift at the top of the Scottish Justices Association (SJA) over its secretary's attendance at a five-day conference by Zambia's Victoria Falls. The whole of the last day at the Commonwealth Magistrates' and Judges' Association event has been set aside for sightseeing, including a "sunset cruise on the Zambezi River".

Group Captain Keith Parkes, a former RAF pilot who sits at Perth Sheriff and JP Court, and who proposed the key vote on the trip, is due to fly out to Livingstone in Zambia next month.

The decision prompted a backlash from some JPs on the association's executive, who denounced it as a "junket" and a "gross misuse of public funds", with three JPs threatening to quit.

In an edict issued last week, Lord Gill said he had been "reviewing the arrangements to control expenditure to meet attendance by the judiciary, especially where the conference is taking place outwith the United Kingdom".

As a result, and with "immediate effect", all future requests for conferences from judicial office-holders will require a business case identifying costs, "the benefit either to those attending or to the judiciary more widely", and "the likely impact on the efficient administration of business".

Stephen Humphreys, the executive director of the Judicial Office of Scotland, will then assess whether funds are available.

Gill said that, after the applications had been assessed for funding he will then consider all requests. He said: "I will need a clear justification for any overseas travel. As a general rule, it should only be necessary for one judicial office-holder to attend a conference overseas.

"It will only be in exceptional cases that I am likely to consider it necessary for more than one person to attend."

To ensure overseas trips do not become holidays, he concluded: "Where support is provided to attend a conference, a report is to be prepared and sent to the Executive Director within one month of the end of the conference.

"The report will be placed on the Judicial Hub [an online library and training resource].

"It is important that as many of the judiciary as possible are able to benefit from the investment of public money in attending the conference."

#2 of http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13174141.Top_judge_takes_control_of_funding_for_overseas_trips_after__junkets__outcry/

In recent years, sheriffs and judges have attended judicial training conferences in Barcelona, Budapest, Sydney, and Bordeaux.

Lord Gill, who is paid £218,470 a year, has also been on recent visits to South Africa, Taiwan and Qatar.

A spokesman for the Judicial Office for Scotland said: "The Judicial Office for Scotland holds a budget for the attendance at conferences and overseas travel by members of the judiciary in Scotland. New guidance was issued to ensure costs are controlled effectively, and the maximum benefit is gained from any attendance at conferences by the judiciary."

However, the rules will not apply to conferences paid for solely by the SJA.

"It only applies when a judicial office-holder is seeking funding from the budget the Judicial Office for Scotland holds," he added.

Why are judges allowed to fly all over the place instead of doing their job and getting all that salary how did they get the money for all these flights is it another demand on the public purse and they throw their toys out the pram if not allowed to fly like the politicians and why doesnt someone put a stop to this they get paid enough as it is!

Interesting blog which puts out a very different picture of Scotland and England's justice system from the official line.

Seriously, I am surprised Scotland's justice industry have not taken you out or arranged something against you in an attempt to discredit your effort.These are very dangerous people you have taken on.They do not forgive or forget.The well being of individuals families children mean nothing to them.We have exactly the same over here and in many other countries around the world.

To quote you an example a journalist I know who covers courts and attorneys lost custody of this child when an order was granted by a judge who turned out to be on the payroll of the journalist's ex wife's new partner.The child was returned the judge quietly retired (now works at the law firm of ex wife's new partner) but in all honesty the judge should have gone to jail.I can well imagine such events in Scotland and England where there appears to be a general subservience to authority and the courts no matter how wrong,biased or possibly corrupt a decision is.

Those who protest they require uninterrupted independence when challenged on their personal activity and interests (compared to challenging court judgments) often have the most to hide.As I read of this petition of yours on judicial interests the same is true in Scotland and England's judiciary and legal services industry.

Noted there are publications who appear to understand all is not well in the courts or law enforcement agencies.Perhaps in the circumstances of developments I read in the comments above decisions taken in court should be challenged more often rather than accepted as-is.

You must be a very knowledgeable person to write up these posts with such detail but remember Wikileaks was hailed as a new era when it was first founded but look what Governments have done to Wikileaks and those who have helped it over the years.

The justice system is as dark deadly and downright dirty as any criminal gang for this network of anti crime business employing millions and sucking in trillions worldwide exists with funding and lobbying groups to justify an eternal existence fighting crime and serving up legal feasts for attorneys with no accountability whatsoever.

From the judiciary right down to the attorney's office on the street their preferred method of defense is full on attack of anyone who does not follow their script.

You took on a task covering what is the most powerful gang in the world.As other journalists have found out to their cost and some who have lost their lives because of their specialty,crime and courts are the most dangerous subjects in the industry,much more so than dipping in to a war for a few days with a camera crew and being embedded with people who quite frankly are as much a danger to reporters and the truth as those they are allegedly there to fight.Take it from me,I have been there.

Hard working solicitors have the protection of the Law Society of Scotland, who often use their muscle against reforming legislation, clients who are left financially ruined, politicians who receive pleas for help and the enquiring media when the profession prefer silence ...

@ 24 May 2017 at 23:20

Clearly there is no control over judicial overseas junkets as the cost has risen from just over £22,000 a year to over £43,000 a year ... and this is solely on the travel acknowledged by the Judicial Office ... there are allegations other trips have been taken by members of the judiciary in which judicial business & politics are alleged to have been discussed and agreed upon which remain unlisted ...

@ 25 May 2017 at 00:41

Basically because judiciary command the power to perform dual roles as judges sitting in court on £220,000 public salaries with £1m plus pensions, and judicial ambassadors mixing justice with business, hospitality and politics while on overseas trips.

As no one is challenging this, it all goes unnoticed ...

@ 26 May 2017 at 13:15

There is little in the way of ethics at the Faculty of Advocates or an adherence to rules not worth the paper it is printed on.

Recently DOI reported on a cash payments scandal where one senior QC demanded bundles of notes in £5,000 blocks to be paid directly at various venues.

Since those articles were published, and appeared in the media, more contacts have come forward with evidence of similar demands from advocates and other QCs for cash payments and some issues which are clearly not in tune with the Faculty's code of conduct ...

More to follow ...

@ 27 May 2017 at 04:46

Noting what you write, much of which is pertinent to Scotland there are many events over the years clearly designed to put an end to independent sources of news on Scotland's legal profession.

Generally it could be said people whose lives have collided with the law, the legal profession Scotland's abhorrent system of self regulation of solicitors - never recover.

DOI has spoken to many over the years who are never given a chance to recover their livelihoods or personal lives after being ripped off by a solicitor or advocate.

The effort expended against victims of the legal system and profession is amazing, yet easily able to be written about in an age where everyone's point of view matters, regardless of a mean spirited legal services sector which serves itself.

Its as simple as this, don't go near them because they are far worse than the people you are having the grievance with.

They think they are getting away with self regulation and people are frustrated with nothing getting done, but there is something happening because all the ripped off people tell their family & friends who in turn tell others & along with this blog is literally thousands which will generate a huge knock on effect in the future that equals no work for lawyers.

You have been warned stay away from them & you will live a happy life.

Noting what you write, much of which is pertinent to Scotland there are many events over the years clearly designed to put an end to independent sources of news on Scotland's legal profession.

Generally it could be said people whose lives have collided with the law, the legal profession Scotland's abhorrent system of self regulation of solicitors - never recover.

DOI has spoken to many over the years who are never given a chance to recover their livelihoods or personal lives after being ripped off by a solicitor or advocate.

The effort expended against victims of the legal system and profession is amazing, yet easily able to be written about in an age where everyone's point of view matters, regardless of a mean spirited legal services sector which serves itself.

If you would like to talk more please contact the blog.

27 May 2017 at 12:05

Truer words were never spoken!Peter!

and can I just add the way lawyers and their brethren on the bench come at you is not up front what they do instead is arrange for others give you a hard time so it cannot be linked directly back to some scumbag lawyer for instance a local council or health board is often used against people when they have trouble with the law and big surprise if you bother to dig deep enough the rubbish who are brought in to cause problems are good friends with the lawyer who kicked it all off.

I have seen it all before.

The town where I live there is a law firm owned by the wife of a sheriff and she owns 1/4 of the town surprise all these ignorant old single women who never spend a penny die off and leaving their houses and cash to charity think they are doing a great public service the charity never got anything it was the sheriff's wife who took the lot for herself and not even any interest from the local rag.Proves you have to be a damn good journalist these days to rise above the judiciary and their cohorts.

All respect to Wikileaks but for some reason they do not take on the legal mafia.Look at their category of judiciary and you will see few entries (only one short entry for the entire UK judiciary!) https://wikileaks.org/wiki/Category:Judiciary If there is a Wikileaks category for lawyers I cannot find it!As for Wikipedia (Yes I know an unrelated venture to Wikileaks) all their pages on the legal mafia sound as if they are written by the same legal mafia.Glowing testimonials on page after page typify absolute rubbish in the name of a knowledge base.If I wanted to be complementary I could say there is more detail and truth in just one of your posts compared to half the internet on Scots law!

Law students from Scotland are now some of the worst qualified in the world.They lack basic skills are very poor at communicating with others completely untrustworthy,never satisfactorily complete a task and act as if they have the right to succeed and pass over far superior candidates for positions.

However the most worrying trend is LLB qualified students committing what is nothing short of organised poaching or theft of clients from firms where they do a stint as an intern or trainee.

After a bitter experience hiring a thug from the University of Glasgow who came to our firm proceeded to direct some of our key clients to an Edinburgh based firm where a relative is a partner and then left when his actions came to light I seriously advise caution in employing anyone with a law qualification from Scotland.

You will find their skill-sets are untrustworthy,ignorant and dishonest if you do.

Former Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland also appears on the list of travel junkets by Scottish Judges.

Mulholland was promoted by Lord Carloway to a seat on the bench in the Court of Session – after he blocked a criminal prosecution of footballer David Goodwillie for rape.

Mulholland also blocked criminal charges against the driver of the Glasgow bin lorry which ran out of control in December 2014 killing six people in the centre of Glasgow while injuring 15 others.

Lord Mulholland, as he is now known – took a two day trip on the taxpayer to the European Court of Justice meeting on the 18 - 20 Sept 2016 in Luxembourg, at a staggering cost of £1,216.34

Tells you a lot about how corrupt the judicial appointments are in Scotland when you have the head of the prosecution service given a job as a judge immediately after resigning from the crooked Crown Office

Bare faced corruption from start to finish and look at Lord Stewart sitting in on the mortgage case with his brother what a disgrace time for a clean out of corruption in our courts!

Agree with all said but really lawyers feed the greed of people nothing more nothing less if you think about it for a second and the judges are at the top of the greed tree.

Look for example at the action against RBS in the London courts.Why adjourn the case when Goodwin should really be taking the stand and giving evidence in court.Everyone knows he should be on the stand but the judiciary and the bank using up hundreds of millions of our money are desperate to protect him and to avoid anyone hearing the evidence of Goodwin.

Same is true of recent cases in the Scottish Courts where clients are flocking to a couple of law firms to sue the pants off major companies after cosmetic surgery went wrong and all because they wanted to pay bottom dollar.Three years on the same people will be moaning about not receiving the settlement they want and then ending up with 50p in the pound after their lawyers take most of the winnings for themselves.Greed by any other name all done in the same of so-called "access to justice"

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The proposals, backed by cross party MSPs during a debate in the Parliament’s main chamber on 9 October 2014 - Debating the Judges - call for the creation of a publicly available register of judicial interests containing information on judges backgrounds, their personal wealth, undeclared earnings, business & family connections inside & outside of the legal profession, offshore investments, hospitality, details on recusals and other information routinely lodged in registers of interest across all walks of public life in the UK and around the world.

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Exclusive Report: An investigation by the Sunday Herald newspaper reveals a senior sheriff presided over a court hearing involving Tesco at the same time as he held shares in the multi-national supermarket giant. Sheriff Principal Dunlop QC did not absent himself because having shares in a company that is party to a court action does not require a member of the judiciary to step down from a case. A Holyrood committee is considering proposals that would require judges and sheriffs to publish their outside interests, including details of their finances, reported in previous coverage here: A Register of Interests for Scotland's Judiciary

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Small concession offered by top judge as calls grow for judicial transparency

Judges should not be above scrutiny

Media Editorial: The Sunday Herald newspaper says in an editorial Judges should not be above scrutiny. The Lord President, who is the country's top judge, is against requiring his colleagues to list their financial interests (as called for in Petition PE1458: Register of Interests for members of Scotland's judiciary) but he seems to have recognised political concerns about a lack of transparency.To this end, he is investigating the possibility of compiling a register of "recusals", which means examples of judges ceasing an interest in a court case due to a perceived conflict. More on the debate on judge’s interests can be viewed here : A Register of Interests for Scotland's Judiciary

Scotland’s top judge takes anti-transparency position on proposal for judicial interests register

Lack of judicial transparency - No justice if it cannot be seen

Media Editorial: The Sunday Mail newspaper says Senior judge's refusal to give evidence to MSPs shows a lack of transparency, says Mail Opinion on calls for judicial transparency in Petition PE1458: Register of Interests for members of Scotland's judiciary. It was an opportunity for Scotland’s top judge to go to Parliament and talk about how our legal system works and might work better. It would have added, as the public relations executives and politicians like to say, a little transparency. Instead, his refusal has only hardened the suspicion that our judges live and work in a bubble smelling of horse hair wigs, vintage port and even more vintage attitudes. More on the debate on judge’s interests can be viewed here : A Register of Interests for Scotland's Judiciary

NEWS SPECIAL: Coverage of the Annual Report 2012-2013 of Scotland’s Judicial Complaints Reviewer reveals Scottish judges are slammed for secrecy, anti-transparency views & how they investigate complaints against other judges.Moi Ali, appointed by the SNP’s Justice Secretary as Scotland’s first Judicial Complaints Reviewersaid: “I think fundamentally the problem is the legislation. “The way it’s created, it’s about self- regulation so you have judges judging judges’ conduct. There isn’t really an independent element.”. Read more HERE

REVEALED : Scotland’s Judicial Complaints Reviewer gave evidence to MSPs at the Scottish Parliament stating her office has no powers to properly investigate complaints against Scottish judges and that the judicial office regularly block access to files and information relating to complaints. In England & Wales, it is done very differently. Read more HERE

EXCLUSIVE REPORT: Scotland’s judiciary are refusing to cooperate with the independently appointed Judicial Complaints Reviewer over complaints made against Scottish judges. Scotland’s top judge also stands accused of regularly blocking independent access to key documents relating to allegations made against judges. Read more HERE

Scotland's top judge objects to Holyrood transparency call for a register of judicial interests

Exclusive Report : Scotland’s top judge Lord Gill claims judges are exempt from declaring their full financial & other interests as called for in Petition PE1458: Register of Interests for members of Scotland's judiciary A register could be created by the Scottish Parliament or by the Judicial Office for Scotland, which incorporates the Lord President’s office. Typically, such registers reveal details of hospitality, gifts, property ownership, shareholdings and personal or financial connections to outside organisations.

If you think Scotland's judges are honest, think again. An investigation reveals the true extent of their undeclared finances & interests. Read more HERE. Investigations have revealed Scotland's Judges have secret criminal records, massive wealth, unchecked influence, & murky investments along with connections to offshore tax havens, all of which go undeclared as there is no register of interests for the judiciary.

Business Interests: Are Scottish Judges overseas trips really just about law conferences?

Exclusive Report: Scotland's judges have racked up thousands of air miles on overseas trips, including jaunts to the US, India, Morocco and Malaysia. Taxpayers paid £83,644 to send judges and sheriffs and their partners around the world in the past three years revealed in this document. The Lord President also travels to Taiwan, South Africa & other countries yet refuses to travel 700m to the Scottish Parliament to face MSPs questions about judges’ secret undeclared interests.

Exclusive Report : A report published by the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice reveals Scottish lawyers take home a lavish £161million in legal aid payments on a tiny client base compared to other EU countries’ lawyers. The EU REPORT also shows that Scotland disciplines a tiny number of lawyers compared to countries of similar size, and that Scotland’s sheriffs & judges top the EU pay league. A large proportion of alleged criminals reported to prosecutors in Scotland are also escaping justice while lawyers scoop up legal aid fees for dealing with cases which never make it to court.

EU Justice Report : Scots Justice System is most expensive, has poorest regulation in Europe

A MUST READ REPORT by the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice reveals the Scottish justice system as the most unproductive, yet most expensive in the entire European Union. Scottish lawyers take tens of millions more in legal aid representing a population of 5 million than Italian lawyers who serve a population of 60 million. The report also reveals Scots judges are paid the highest in Europe, Scottish Sheriffs taking home an average taxpayer funded salary of £120K plus, while others in Scotland’s judiciary are paid £200K plus expenses.

The Scottish Civil Courts Review of 2009 authored by the then Lord Justice Clerk, now Lord President Lord Brian Gill, castigated Scotland’s Civil Justice System as being Victorian, costly, and unfit for purpose, yet years on from the review, little of the proposed reforms have been implemented due to pressure from vested interests in the legal world, and a lack of political will to deliver access to justice to all Scots.

The ‘independent’ lawyer run Scottish Legal Complaints Commission has lurched from scandal to scandal, and proved to be even worse at regulating complaints against Scottish solicitors than the Law Society of Scotland. Clients of Scottish solicitors who are forced to make complaints to the SLCC should read our previous reports on how the anti-client regulator may treat their case.

Exclusive Report: A Research Report from the University of Manchester School of Law, commissioned by the SLCC on the Law Society of Scotland’s two discredited client compensation schemes, the Master Insurance Policy & Scottish Solicitors Guarantee Fund reveals the extent of suicides, illness, broken families and financial ruin among clients who fall victim to rogue solicitors and attempt financial claims in order to recover funds & assets embezzled or stolen by their lawyers. The research report concludes the Law Society's Master Policy is set up “to allow solicitors to sleep at night”, so they can go on to ruin other unsuspecting clients. Read the full shocking story HERE

Name & Shame your crooked lawyer in the media

If you are making a complaint to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC), Law Society of Scotland or Faculty of Advocates about your solicitor or legal representatives, one of the best things you can do is tell the media about it & name your crooked lawyer.

Revealed: Suspended & Bankrupt lawyers are secretly still working in Scotland

Exclusive Report: An investigation has revealed twice suspended but still working as a solicitor John G O'Donnell has impersonated a deceased lawyer as part of an elaborate fraud, while staff at the law firm he worked at said nothing to clients. The Law Society of Scotland did nothing to prevent O’Donnell continuing his reign of scams against clients even after he was twice suspended & made bankrupt. O’Donnell was only found out after one of his clients, saw his photograph in an earlier Sunday Mail newspaper investigation..

Exclusive Report: An investigation has revealed a lawyer who works for the Citizens Advice Bureau is being probed after it’s claimed he targeted vulnerable clients for a crooked legal firm. A client involved in a rent dispute turned to CAB lawyer Gilbert Anderson, who is based at Hamilton Sheriff Court on a taxpayer funded salary. But the ex-Royal Marine sent the client and a friend into the clutches of twice suspended solicitor John G O'Donnell , who does not have a practicing certificate.

BONUS CULTURE of Crown Office fails to deliver justice

An investigation reveals Scotland’s Prosecutors have been caught up in their own BONUS CULTURE where fat cash hand-outs at the end of the year worth tens of thousands of pounds and sly Press Releases short on facts seem to be more important than catching real crooks and delivering on protecting the Scots public.

One of Scotland’s most famous Crooked Lawyers, Andrew Penman of Stormonth Darling Solicitors, Kelso in the Scottish Borders. Read the MEDIA COVERAGE of the case, details which the Law Society of Scotland and several Edinburgh law firms tried to bury.

If you have a similar experience with Stormonth Darling Solicitors, or any other corrupt law firm, we want to hear about it at scottishlawreporters@gmail.com